It's A Baby Jonny Not A Bomb
by seeyouontheice
Summary: meant to be a bit soppy, funny, sweet, dramatic
1. Chapter 1

"It's a baby Jonny, not a bomb," Mo pointed out calmly as Jonny freaked out, yet again, over the fast approaching moment when he'd come face to face with fatherhood. He glared at her as she finished her packet of crisps, spilling crumbs all over his new car. "Whoops."

"Whoops? Is that it?" he growled.

"Relax dude … remember, you're not the one giving birth in less than a month so you don't have the excuse of hormones to explain away your freak out sessions."

"Relax? How can you tell me to relax! My baby is being born to a … a woman who – who doesn't feel emotions and will … she'll probably cause it to have – I dunno – three eyes or … or four heads and then …" he ran a hand over his face, picturing it. "I – she's got … got endometriosis … that can't be a good thing – I mean, what if … something …" Jonny trailed off and started again as the bubble of panic reached boiling point. "What if something goes wrong and – and she … or the baby … I – I don't think I could cope if anything … to either of them – it's like I …"

"Jonny …" Mo tried, but he was on a roll.

"Or … like … it doesn't _like_ me – my baby – when it's born … or it doesn't like Jac – Jac couldn't cope with it not liking her … or what if the baby gets really ill and then – or Jac does … or me. What if something happened to both of us – me and Jac? What then? The baby would be alone without parents who –"

"Jonny! Shut up!" Mo almost yelled. "Seriously, you're just being stupid. What possible reason is there for your baby _not_ to love you? You're gonna be a daddy. Probably one of the best daddies in the world I should imagine … right behind mine, yours and Sacha. And as for Jac … well she's made it this far hasn't she without major problems – one or two minor hiccups, but nothing serious. And despite what the rumours are saying;" Mo patted Jonny on the arm, "I think this baby is gonna have some of the best parents in the world."

Jonny smiled at his friend, "you think so?"

"Yeah, I really do … now c'mon; transplant time."

Jonny sighed and agreed, pulling his keys out of the ignition and opening his door he stepped out into the weak January sun. Blinking in the light, Mo shut her door with a slam that echoed across the car park and Jonny hit the fancy new electric button on his key to lock his shiny new car. He followed Mo to the entrance before realising his bag was still in the boot of the car along with the still packaged travel cot for Jac. Grabbing his bag and the cot from his boot, Jonny once again locked the car and hurried into the building and up the back stairs to Darwin.

Thankfully the ward was rather empty so he was able to slip onto it and into the locker room without being spotted. Changing into his scrubs, Jonny took the travel cot and hid it in the senior nurse's office – his office – until he was certain Jac was in a good mood to accept the gift. He'd just closed the door behind him when he heard his name called out across the ward; "I see you've decided to join us Maconie. I hope you haven't passed on this habit of being late all the time to the baby."

"Good morning to you too Jac," Jonny said with the smile he knew she both hated and loved as she passed, very much pregnant and busy deciphering a scan on one of the many iPads that dotted the ward with Elliot at her heels.

She halted in front of him, "Is it? I've been up since six, emptying my guts out over the toilet and my back hurts like hell. I'm carrying around all this extra weight and I can't reach my feet – or remember what they look like – and I could _really _do with a drink – oh but of course I _can't have a drink_ so I'm stuck on stupid lemonade and coke and fizzy crap that makes my stomach churn and …" she blinked, and for the first time, Jonny begun to appreciate just how taxing this was on her. "I've got so much to do and there's only weeks left. Like I've got to get … a – a cot and … clothes and … there's the whole issue of, um – we've got to think of names and … people think I'm gonna – that I'll ... they think I'm gonna screw it up and … and I'm scared I will …" taking the iPad out of her hands and handing it to Elliot, Jonny took her into his arms and exchanged a look with the professor to suggest he got on with whatever new cases Jac had decided she could deal with. He nodded in agreement and bustled off, leaving the tearful Jac to Jonny.

"Okay, I'm sorry … I, I had no idea …" Mo wasn't wrong in saying she was hormonal Jonny quickly realised. "Hay, I've got you a present," he told her, smiling.

"What?"

"It's for the baby," he explained, taking her hand and pulling her into his office. "I know it's a travel cot but …" he shrugged, "well my sisters always use them as playpens and places for the kids to nap in and …" he trailed off, now suddenly uncertain. "I thought, since you can't get much maternity leave that – well – you could put it in the corner of the office and …"

Jac wiped the few tears away and smiled at him, "thank you." she said, kissing his cheek. "I mean it; thank you."

He grinned, "Well, it's my baby too!" he joked.

"Much to your girlfriend's disgust," Jac said softly.

Jonny felt his grin fade a little, "yeah … she's not too happy about this …"

"What did she say when you brought the cot home?"

"I left it in the car," Jonny murmured, fiddling with the plastic wrapping on the box.

"Ah," Jac took advantage of the chair and slumped down in it. "This same new car I heard Mo going on about when she arrived, apparently having done wrong by spilling crumbs all over it?" Jonny shrugged. "What happened to your old one?"

"It needed replacing."

"Seemed to work perfectly fine whenever I was in it … well, it went better than mine did at any rate." Jac pointed out and Jonny sighed.

"I decided it would be a bit difficult getting the baby in and out of the back of that one, so I brought one that would make it easier." He shifted slightly, "do you remember the first scan you dragged me to? You didn't want to go alone because you was worried there was something wrong since they asked you back a week later." Jac nodded.

"I remember."


	2. Chapter 2

_"Come with me?" she asked tentatively._

_"Come with you where?" he replied suspiciously._

_"To the scan – the ultrasound … please," she wanted him involved with the baby, despite Jonny's adamant attitude that he wanted nothing to do with Jac. He stared at her calculatedly, wondering if it would mean anything … it was just a scan – and despite how much he hated her right then, she did look rather afraid. "I … the last time I went alone and they – they said that they were a bit concerned and …" she shrugged "Come with me … please."_

_Shrugging he said, "If you want – but it doesn't mean I'm involved!"_

_Jac smiled and nodded. "Thank you …"_

_"When is it?" _

_"Three … I'll, erm, do you want me to meet you there?" Jonny nodded and carried on with his rounds. _

_Three o'clock found him waiting outside Mr Thompson's office with Jac as the gynaecologist arrived, apologising for his lateness. He opened the door and let them in, babbling on to Jac about something or other – Jonny wasn't interested. He just shrugged when Thompson asked him a question and he assumed Jac quickly told him he was just there because she'd caught him in a reasonable mood. They talked about stuff for ages, to the point where Jonny considered walking out due to boredom and he'd just reached the door when he heard it._

_A heartbeat._

_He hadn't realised that Jac was lying on the examination bed and that Thompson was already halfway through the scan. Yet it was an unmistakable heartbeat emitting from Jac's belly. Jonny found he was standing beside her, holding her hand between both of his, staring at the splodges on the screen that he was told was his baby … _

_"Makes it seem real now, I take it?" Thompson was asking him and Jonny found he was nodding. Yes, it did seem much more real now … real and exciting and he promised, there and then, that he was going to be a part of this something magical; that his – their – baby would be the absolute centre of his world. _

* * *

_"Jonny!" his head snapped up as she called his name and he hurried across the ward, worried that something was wrong. At the door to the consultants' office Jac took his hand, sat down on the sofa, and placed his hand over her belly. "Feel it?" her eyes were alive and she watched the awe seep across his own face as he felt the unmistakable nudges as the baby made its presence noticed – not that they could do anything _but_ notice it. _

_"Yeah …" he dropped to his kneed and cradled her stomach between both hands as Jac placed hers over his. "How long has it been doing this?"_

_"It's the first time," she smiled. _

_He grinned again as the baby reached out, almost as if it wanted to hold Jonny's hand. "Come with me to Scotland." He said suddenly, "to meet me granny … she wants to meet you – and the baby …" looked up at her as she contemplated it. _

_"What about your girlfriend? What would she say?"_

_Jonny shrugged; "please," he asked in his most appealing voice, "for me?" he didn't deny that using that phrase was a bit harsh as it was becoming clearer to him each day that Jac was finding it hard to move on and that part of her refused to let him go, but he really wanted her to come._

_"Okay, but promise me no old men in skirts!" he grinned and stumbled to his feet, causing Jac to laugh as he bumped into a chair and fell flat on his back. "Clumsy idiot!" she called out fondly. _

* * *

_It was late, and he should've pulled over at the service station a mile back but they were due at work in the morning and Jonny wasn't ready to sleep just yet. He stole a glance to the left to find that Jac was still fast asleep, using his jumper and hers as a pillow against the glass of the window. He'd always loved watching her sleep. _

_Shaking himself, Jonny returned his attention to the road. It was just because she was having his baby, that's all … he felt so protective of her because she was pregnant with his child … or was it because part of him was falling for her once again? No – that couldn't be it. He'd punched those jerks at the pub because they were endangering his baby, not because they were hassling Jac … he'd held her the night she'd gotten off the phone from a tearful Sacha because she was carrying his infant inside her, not because he didn't want her to cry herself to sleep alone and tormenting herself over not being there for her bestfriend as he coped with the lost of his eldest child. _

The road Jonny … you haven't a clue what's going on in front of you …_ forcing his mind back on to the driving, Jonny opened the window in the hope that the fresh air would stop his mind from wondering off track. He and Jac were friends. That's all; friends. Friends who were having a baby together … he had a girlfriend for Christ's sake!_

* * *

_"Shall we go out tonight?"_

_"Could do …"_

_"How about we just stay in and rent a movie?" Jonny shrugged, not remotely interested. "And I can get a bottle of that wine you said you liked … and wear that dress?" _

_"If you want," Jonny watched as Jac pulled on the large baggy jumper and picked up her bag before leaving the locker room. Turning to the woman beside him he said, with no idea what she'd been talking to him about, "Sounds good … why don't you go on home and get everything sorted? I've still got a few things to do here." He permitted her to kiss him and watched her enter the lift before darting round the corner and hurrying down the stairs. "Jac!" she looked round at him, half way down the second flight._

_"What?"_

_"You need a lift home, right?" she blinked and then accepted the offer._

_"Well don't feel you need to wait around for me – I've got to go and have another ultrasound done." _

_"It's no problem; but isn't Mr T's room upstairs?"_

_"He's not in today, so he sent out an email and asked someone to do it for him and email him the scan. Malick said he'd do it for him," Jonny nodded. _

_"Lead on," he said, stepping back and throwing out his arm, gesturing her to take the lead, even though they both knew the way. They reached Keller and Jac suddenly remembered that she needed a full bladder for the scan to work properly, so Jonny went to fetch her a few cups of water from the water machine while Jac waited for Malick to have a free moment. _

_He'd just filled the second cup and was on his way to the bay Malick had pointed to Jac when the new F1, Dominic Copeland, barged past him, spilling the water all down Jonny's shirt. He heard Jac laugh as he swore at the junior doctor, told him to go find something to clean the spilled water while he turned and filled up a third cup to hand to a still laughing Jac Naylor._

_"Just get on with it." Jonny told Malick as Jac sipped the water, refusing to meet his eyes. He was aware that he probably looked a sight with one side of his shirt wet and the other dry, but it wasn't until he realised his jeans pocket was wet that he realised the water had splashed onto his crotch making it look as if he'd wet himself. Jac's uncontrollable mirth suddenly became clear and he just stood there like a lemon as he realised he'd have to stay as he was until he got home._


	3. Chapter 3

Jac smiled, however the door opened abruptly, ending their few moments of time together. "Jonathon," he hid his groan at her insistence on using his full name as Emily squeezed herself into the small room. "Oh … sorry – was I interrupting something?" she asked in a voice put on to make her sound thicker than she really was. Jonny knew she irritated Jac – and Mo, and … everyone – to the point where they couldn't physically be in the same room as her for longer than five minutes. And when he'd first met her, irritating Jac had been a good thing.

Now though … now it was just the sex and he was beginning to suspect that she was cottoning on to that fact. _Well it's been months since I last made an effort_ he reasoned.

"No, not at all," Jac murmured, trying to get to her feet. Jonny quickly took her hands and gently pulled her upright, earing himself another smile in thanks as she left the office and Emily's irksome presence.

"What was that?" she demanded the second the door shut on Jac, now they were alone the false pretence of acting dumb was dropped and her voice was actually rather scathing.

"What was what?" he decided to act as if nothing were amiss; it had worked all the other times before now.

"You know bloody well what! I thought I told you to stay away from that bitch?"

"That bitch – as you so kindly put it – is having my baby!" Jonny yelled back, furious that she never referred to Jac by name, only as 'that bitch'.

"And the other day you told me you wished she wasn't!"

Jonny froze. "I never said that … never; not once." he was clenching his fists together in an effort to stop himself _throwing_ something at her.

"Yes you did; you said you'd rather it was me than _her_."

"You're an ugly little liar. Did you know that?" Jonny pushed past her and left the office, not entirely sure the travel cot would be safe alone with Emily. He reasoned that Jac and his baby were worth getting a fresh one for.

"She's got you wrapped neatly round her manicured thumb hasn't she? God Jonny; are you blind or something? She's _obviously_ still in love with you – or whatever _her_ equivalent is – why else would that bitch want you involved? And you …" she faltered for a moment before continuing in a voice dripping with accusation, _"You still love her!_" Emily had decided not to sabotage the travel cot and continue to test his mood. Mo, Elliot, Ollie, and Jac were all trading notes at the nurses' station and he knew they could hear every word. Jac was looking determinedly at the iPad in her lap. "You know what Jonny? Screw you! I hope your – your … _thing_ … burns in Hell!"

Jonny spun on his heel, "I don't give a damn what you say about me; but don't you _dare_ say –" he begun but Emily it seemed had been counting on him turning to face her because a moment later her knee collided rather painfully with his manhood … _twice_ … before she slapped him sharply across the face as he doubled over in agony and she pushed him over so he was lying on the floor in a heap, cradling what was left of his dignity.

It might have been days later, Jonny had no clue, but he was suddenly aware that Ollie and Elliot were lifting him up to his feet and steering him towards a chair, hidden from view in the staff room. "I felt that mate." Ollie told him sympathetically as they gently lowered their wounded brother into the chair. Jonny threw him a look that dared to suggest he continue along the lines of 'I understand your pain'. Ollie tactfully fell silent as Elliot, rather seriously and wordlessly handed Jonny a cold compress.

Thankful that neither Mo nor Jac – or any female – was around to witness the totally disarray of his pride, dignity and general manliness, Jonny took the cold compress gratefully, letting out a small moan of pain and satisfaction as the compress worked its magic. Leaving him to lick his wounds in private, Elliot and Ollie headed back out onto the ward, shutting the door behind them.

And hour and a half later, and after sending Ollie to grab him a fresh pair of scrub bottoms to avoid being questioned about his bladder control again, Jonny emerged from the staff room ready to fight another day. He had no idea where Emily was, and frankly he couldn't care less about her anymore. Jac was what was important; Jac and their baby. The rest of the morning past quite uneventfully with both Jac and Mo – and Serena when she popped up with a scan for Jac to give her opinion on – asking him how he was and did he need anything; to which he took full advantage of ordering free coffee and hot chocolate, as well basking in their sympathy.

Neither Elliot, nor Ollie saw fit to comment because it was a well-known fact that having women give you sympathy and fetch things for you was a rarity only achieved when you've received injury after getting _brutally _dumped in front of everyone you work with. Even if you were lying on the sofa, dying of what they called 'manflu' they wouldn't fetch. Jonny decided to end his fun when the patient he'd taken off Jac and given to Elliot decided to go into respiratory arrest. Unfortunately, Jonny was on the phone ten minutes later informing the next of kin that her uncle would not be coming home. He'd seen that Ollie was about to make the call and, not wanting it to be unpleasant for the recently widowed CT1, Jonny quickly dived in and said he would make the call. Watching Ollie head back out into the mess of patients and relatives, Jonny looked up the number on the computer and dialled 9 for an outside line and then the rest of the digits.


	4. Chapter 4

After asking the necessary questions of; 'will you be okay?' 'Is there anything we can do for you?' 'Would you like us to call anyone else?' Jonny hung up the phone and was immediately nominated to get lunch. Sighing and knowing full well the sympathy card would not get him out of lunch duty; Jonny grabbed his coat and his wallet and asked Jac if she'd like to keep him company. She pointed out that the lunch break wasn't long enough for her to walk all the way to the sandwich shop and back again in her condition, and Jonny kicked himself for not realising that. He left her sitting in the chair at the nurses' station with her stethoscope pressed against her belly, listening to the heart beat and Jonny smiled; Mo had once sat in that chair doing that very same thing – and he couldn't know that Connie Beechump had also sat and listened in that very spot once too.

So he braved the cold January chill alone as he went to get the sandwiches for lunch. On the way back, he noted absently that it was starting to snow and by the time he'd reached the hospital, a light layer had already carpeted the cars in the car park and the pathways. "It's always late," he muttered to himself, thinking of how it _never _snowed during Christmas time, always after. Back when he was a lad, growing up on the shores of Lochgilphead with his sisters and granny after his parents had died in that car accident, Christmas used to always be white and the snow several feet thick. He absently mused that, once the baby was old enough to appreciate it of course, he'd take Jac and his child up there for Christmas one year.

Jonny was rushing up the back stairs still rather cold when voices echoed down from several flights up. Peering up through the gap in order to catch a glimpse of the owners, Jonny continued up the steps at a pace that allowed him to approach without it seeming suspicious. He couldn't tell who's the second voice was because the scathing screech of Emily's voice drowned it out – which was quite a feat. Jonny had reached the level below Darwin when he finally figured out the second voice; _Jac!_

He pulled himself up the next flight and appeared at the bottom of the flight below Darwin in time to watch Emily give Jac, who foolishly had her back to the stairs, a hard shove causing her to fall heavily down the stairs and land in a painful heap at Jonny's feet. Stunned, shocked, surprised, Jonny looked up and saw the horror on Emily's face when she realised he'd witnessed the incident before she sped off.

Dropping the bags of freshly made baguettes, and thinking that Elliot would skin him alive if he ever found out he'd prioritised Jac over lunch, Jonny rushed to Jac's side. "Jac!" he had a small moment of relief at finding her conscience before she doubled over in his arms, clutching her stomach in clear agony. "Jac what's wrong? Tell me!"

She grabbed his coat and yelled in pain as she pressed her face into his shoulder, "The baby … I think – Jonny! Something's wrong!" the overwhelming emotion in her voice was sheer panic and when they both glanced down to find blood on the floor and no apparent source other than the darkening of Jac's trousers, the panic was replaced with terror. "No … not now … not now …"

"Help me!" Jonny yelled as loud as he could, before remembering that no one responded to that and yelling out instead "Can I get some help over here!" at the top of his lungs. "Hold on Jac," he said as she panicked in his arms, hyperventilating as she stumbled over her words.

"But the baby … Jonny – what if …"

"Everything's going to be okay," he promised, placing a trembling finger to her lips and biting back his own tears when he spotted hers.

"I knew it was too good to be true … that I never deserved this –"

"Don't say that!" angry at the lack of apparent help, Jonny yelled again, this time letting his anger show, "CAN I GET SOME FUCKING HELP OVER HERE!"

"Jonny …"

"NOW … please! Somebody … MO!" he almost screamed the name of his best mate; in the hopes she'd understand he needed her if she heard the utter desperation in his voice.

"Jonny!" Jac was trembling, physically shaking – whether from the fall, from the shock or because of some other reason, Jonny didn't know. "Jonny I – I'm scared," he glanced down at her, why was no one coming?

"I'm here," he promised as the doors slammed open above them, "and I'll always be here." Her eyes flickered and then she fainted.

"Jonny? … Jesus what happened?" Mo demanded, dropping to her knees beside Jac and immediately feeling for a pulse.

"What on earth happened to the sandwiches?" Elliot asked before yelling for something – hopefully for Jac not the ruined lunch littered across the stairs.

"I … Emily, she …" he shook himself. "She pushed her down the – down the stairs as I was on my way back. They were, um … arguing – I don't know what about … me or the baby probably … oh God, Mo! The baby – please the baby will be okay … right?" he begged as Ollie, Mo, and another nurse lifted Jac onto the bed Elliot had called for the moment he'd seen Jac was unconscious.

"Jonny, please … stop pestering me right now!"

"And Jac … will she be –" Mo and Elliot had already disappeared off into Darwin with Jac, not listening to a word he'd been saying leaving Ollie to once again drag an obsolete Jonny to his feet and then help him to clean up since he'd been practically sitting in a pool of blood … "Jac and the baby …" he kept stammering, "they'll be okay though, won't they?"

"I hope so," Ollie said comfortingly as he guided Jonny – now dressed in the clothes he'd arrived in from home – back to the staff room where he shoved a cup of _very_ strong coffee into his shaking hands. "The best we can do is to sit and wait, I'm afraid; well … you know the drill."


	5. Chapter 5

When the door opened suddenly sometime later, Hanssen waltzed in followed by an almost bored Serena, a grumpy Ric, annoyingly chilled out Michael and a wild-eyed Sacha. Sacha immediately took the seat beside Jonny and Ollie quickly handed Jac's best friend an over caffeinated coffee too. "Do you know what happened?" Hanssen asked at once.

"Excuse me, but I _do _believe that you elected to return to the floor leaving _me_ in charge." Serena butted in at once. "So, Henrik, doesn't that make me, effectively, _your boss_?"

He glared at her and if Jac and his, as yet unborn, child hadn't been fighting for their lives Jonny would've been amused and entertained by the rather intricate play going on between Serena and Hanssen.

"My mistake," he told her, his voice dripping with enough sarcasm to make Jac proud, "do feel free to _ask away_."

"Oh I will Henrik. Don't you worry about that," Serena turned to Jonny and smiled, "ah yes, Nurse Maconie … did you see what happened to Jac?"

"Emily pushed her down the stairs." He said bluntly.

"The same Emily that kicked you in the balls earlier?" Michael asked and Jonny nodded once.

"Where is she now?"

"No idea," Ollie answered, "no one's seen her since this morning when …" he didn't need to finish and Jonny witnessed Michael's hand fly down to his own manhood – almost as if to check it was still there.

"Well I'll have security alerted and once we know the outcome of theatre, as in whether things pick up or not, I'll inform the police." Serena said as she turned to leave as Jonny's head sprung up.

"What do you mean?" his voice was low and not to be messed with as he got to his feet and knocked his chair over in the process.

"Ah … yes; don't mention the problems to Jonny _was_ part of that conversation I had with Professor Hope …" however Serena seemed to be much too busy to finish her sentence, so she left it to Ric as she, Michael and Hanssen left the room.

Ric shut the door and sighed, "They've run into complications … and they've decided to get the babies out now so –"

"Babies?" his head snapped up, his eyes widening, "As in, more than one?"

Ric allowed himself a smile, "it seems that whenever Jac went for an ultrasound one was always hidden behind the other … it's a rare medical moment but yes; you're having twins."

Jonny made to sink down onto his chair, but instead he fell straight onto the floor as forgot that his chair was upturned. Stunned at the news, he didn't register Sacha, Ollie, and Ric laughing at him until Ric and Sacha had seized him under the arms and heaved up upright while Ollie righted his chair. Manhandled into a seat for the third time that day, Jonny's mind exploded with thoughts. _Twins … two … two babies … _

"Now, things aren't that simple I'm afraid … the fall didn't help Jac's condition and cause her to start to bleed out from the outside of her uterus. Once the twins are out, they'll remove her womb and stop the bleed and – most likely – cure her of her endometriosis." Ric told him, shoving the coffee back into his hands.

"Will they be alright though?"

"Do you trust Elliot and Mo?"

"Of course!" he protested.

"Then there's you're answer … I've got to get back to AAU; let me know how they get on." Jonny nodded automatically as Ric left the room.

"Twins?" he was still questioning that bit of news so processing what he'd said about Jac bleeding out and having to have her uterus removed took a bit longer. "Two babies … but we only asked for one!"

"I think, mate, you actually only asked for none!" Sacha joked, patting him on the back as Ollie left to check on the ward.

"Yeah …" Jonny scratched his head as he struggled to comprehend what twins meant. "Two babies at once? Are they serious … it's not a wee joke is it?" he suddenly asked Sacha, who chuckled.

"I don't think Ric has it in him to joke."

Jonny grinned, however the grin faded when the bit about Jac bleeding out floated to the front of his mind. Had there been a mirror nearby, Jonny would've witnessed the speed at which the colour drained out of his face like water down a plug hole.

Agitated and never having been one to sit still for long, Jonny jumped to his feet; "I've got to find out what's happening!" and before Sacha could stop him he'd wrenched open the door, accidently slammed it into his face in the process, and ran towards the theatre corridor.

The only reason he didn't burst in on them was because Mo had just left theatre, clearly about to go looking for him.

"What are you doing?" Jonny demanded at once, "Why aren't you in there helping … please tell me nothing's gone wrong!"

"Chill … I was just coming to get you; Mr T's about to deliver the babies … I assume you now know it is twins?" Jonny nodded, "good. We thought you might like to be there, seeing as Jac is out cold and will miss it."

Jonny blinked and sagged against the wall, "um … yeah, I'll – I'll watch." He calmly followed Mo into theatre two and scrubbed himself up alongside her as Elliot and Mr T waited for them to join them.


	6. Chapter 6

Suddenly he was nervous; scared … panicking and trembling he stepped up to the side of the operating table where Jac lay totally unaware of what was about to happen, and slipped on a piece of paper towel. He grabbed a nearby trolley to steady himself but the lightness meant he just pulled it over with him, causing the specially sterilized tools to be rendered unusable. The crash of the metal trolley and its content hitting the hard floor made his fall seem that much more embarrassing for him.

Jonny gingerly got to his feet, trying to right the upturned trolley, but only succeeded in knocking it over again. "Sorry …" but they seemed amused by his clumsiness rather than shocked by it. Jonny crossed his arms over his chest to try and stop himself doing any more damage as Mr T resumed the task of delivering what they now knew was twins.

Standing well back, Jonny took to staring round the theatre not really wanting to watch this procedure. He had no idea how long he'd stood in the background while Mo, Elliot and Mr T repaired the bleed, apparently they had to at least stem the flow before they got on with actually getting the babies out. Jonny took to pacing at the back of the room, wringing his hands together as the constant bleep of the bp monitor and other devices he forgot the name of and what they used for rang in his ears.

"Bps dropping!" Mo suddenly yelled and Jonny froze.

"Check the babies' hearbeats!" Mr T ordered.

"She's going into cardiac arrest! Someone get me the crash trolley!" Elliot snapped; usually calm and collected in theatre, the fact that it was Jac lying on the table meant that Elliot's impeccable good judgement was tainted by his adamant attitude of not ever wanting to let Jac down.

"What …?" Jonny hovered at Mo's shoulder as Elliot placed the two bit of machine to Jac's chest. The force of the electricity was enough to kick-start her heart and the alarming bleeps of the bp monitor slowed to a less dangerous speed as it became clear that it had done the trick.

"Okay …" Elliot shared a glance with Mo and Mr T before looking up at Jonny, whose eyes were wide and panic stricken; "Ready to become a father, Jonny?" he asked kindly, the corners of his eyes crinkled into a smile.

Jonny swallowed and nodded, not trusting himself to speak – he had a strong suspicion only a squeak would emit from his throat and decided he didn't need the embarrassment that would bring him as well as everything else. Mr T took over, instructing Jonny to stand back and not to utter a word until unless he was spoken to while he performed the caesarean. Since he was no longer needed, Elliot came to stand beside Jonny and his presence beside him stopped him collapsing in a heap on the floor while he stammered that he wasn't ready yet.

Because he wasn't. Nowhere _near_ ready to become a father to one child, let alone two. He could barely get himself ready in the mornings on time, let alone somebody else – some_bodies_ else – and Jac … Jac had no clue that the one baby had suddenly become two. How was she going to cope when she woke up to find she had children, not just a child? Jonny found he was sweating, his hands were sticky and he was getting that lightheaded feeling from being in a room without a fresh air supply. What a great start it would be, if he were to faint the second his first born was forced into life, Jonny thought as he contemplated asking Hanssen if the Board would consider putting in an openable window in here.

He couldn't do this; he couldn't be a father … why had he agreed to this? No doubt all the other dads would laugh at him when they saw his shoddy attempts of raising his kids … and the mothers would feel sorry for Jac, having to put up with the fact that _he_ was the father of her children. No … they deserved someone who was able to be a dad … he hadn't even been able to protect Jac and the babies from getting hurt and wasn't that his job? His primary function; to protect his family and make sure no harm ever came their way? He'd probably drop the babies the first time he picked them up; damage them for life …

He expected Mo to jump in then and physically shake reality back into him, but then he remembered he was only thinking these thoughts in his mind and that she had no clue that he was freaking out – again. So he resumed the 'oh help I cannot do this' line of thought as the minuets dragged by since Mr T had spotted yet another bleed that needed stemming first.

Jonny had just about had enough with the whole thing and was about to follow his own suggestion that Jac and the babies would be better off without him there making mistakes and getting things wrong all the time when, as had happened back at that first scan, a sound called out to his heart and stopped him dead and rendered him incapable of doing a thing other than answering that sound. It was as if, somehow, this was the last desperate bid to keep Jonny firmly involved - which worked. And Jonny found himself remembering the promise he'd made; that he'd do anything to stick around for this magical moment and make sure that their babies – his and Jac's – remained the absolute centre of their world.

This new sound was that of a screaming infant, protesting at being dragged unceremoniously out of its mother's warm womb and into the cold world outside. The protesting infant was wriggling and squirming so much that Mo lost her hold of him – Jonny seemed to remember hearing someone triumphantly announcing that he had a son – and he fell onto the, now empty, trolley as she passed him over to the nurse.

"Well, I think it's safe to say he's your son."


	7. Chapter 7

"You wee idiot," Jonny muttered as the baby boy screamed even louder, not that Jonny thought it was possible, and continued to squirm as the nurse took him to give him those usual and necessary post-birth checks. She rattled off about weight and size and all kinds off other stuff that Jonny knew Jac would want to know, however he couldn't concentrate on anything other than the sound of his wailing lad.

"He's fit and healthy and got quite a set of lungs on him," the nurse smiled as she came up to Jonny with the infant wrapped up tightly in a blanket. Mo, Elliot, and Mr T watched with barely contained glee as Jonny awkwardly took his child into his arms. Feeling guilty over the fact that Jac wasn't awake to witness these first moments, Jonny looked down at his infant. Later he would overhear Elliot describing the look of wonder on his face to Jac.

"Why, erm …" Jonny sniffed and blinked, trying to wipe his eyes with his shoulder. "Why am I crying?" he asked, laughing at the absurdity of it.

"It's good crying;" Elliot reassured him. "Don't worry; I did too when my children were born … it's because you didn't think this moment would actually come." Jonny grinned and nodded, gently rocking his boy in his arms surprised that it was working and that the baby was settling down slightly.

"Yeah," Jonny breathed heavily, shocked at how _easy_ it was to hold the small child still and not drop him. "So … the, um … the other … other one – baby?" he asked.

"Just a moment and your son will be a brother." Mr T told him and true to his word, a moment later he dumped a second infant into Mo's waiting hands.

The baby in Jonny's arms squirmed, as if wondering, as everyone else was, why his twin wasn't screaming. "Give her to me," Mo handed the silent infant to the nurse and they all waited, with bated breath, for the cries of the baby girl that told them she was alive. Panicking and almost dropping his son as he tripped over his feet in order to get closer to his little girl, Jonny looked round; desperate for someone to tell him what was going wrong.

"Jonny; give them space!" Elliot took his arm and pulled him back a step as Mo and the nurse bent over the baby muttering to each other in hushed voices. Jonny had no idea what they did, but a few seconds later a low and rather pitiful cry began to emit from the baby and everyone visibly relaxed at the sound, even if it sounded like every breath was a struggle for her.

"We'll need to get a cardiac consultant to check her over since she's having a few breathing problems, but other than that, she's fine," the nurse said to Jonny, a second bundle wrapped neatly ready for him to hold. Wondering what to do with his son, Jonny muttered his thanks when they pushed a standard baby bed towards him and he gently laid the boy down before taking his daughter.

She wasn't nearly as fidgety and restless as her big brother and Jonny suspected that his son's insistence to keep moving may have come from him. Watching her as she gave up her wails and worried at how breathless she seemed Jonny gave her a small kiss on the forehead as the bp machines went through the roof once again. Mr T, Mo, and Elliot were back at Jac's bedside with in a second and Jonny found himself being steered firmly out of theatre by the nurse and the midwife who'd come along to take the twins away for a much more thorough examination. He was so caught up in the fact that he was a dad that the gravity of the situation back in theatre made little sense to him; he knew it must be bad because they'd quite literally thrown him out, but for some reason, worry and panic hadn't settled in yet. Maybe it was because he knew he had to remain calm for the twins.

Gently laying his daughter next to her brother, Jonny watched as the midwife steered the baby bed with the twins down the corridor and off to wherever it was she had to go to do the check-ups and the nurse disappeared back into theatre. Jonny stood alone, emotions tumbling all over the place as he ripped off his scrubs and wondered what he should do now. Deciding that he needed air to clear his head, Jonny headed for the lift with his mind still adjusting to the fact that he was a dad. _Me … a father? Ha! I bet me old man is laughing at me now, the old sod._ He thought to himself as the lift arrived, empty save for Emily.

The foolish and dazed grin that had been plastered on his face since he'd first heard his son's cries faded immediately.

"Jonathon … I, I'm so sorry … I –"

"Go away; I mean it. Serena's called the police!"

"At least tell me I haven't _killed _her!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, that _wasn't_ your intention?"

"I didn't mean it to happen, Jonathon … please – I, I feel terrible."

"Good. Because if Jac doesn't make it; my twins will be blaming _you_ for not having a mother!"

"Since when were you having twins?"

"Since today," shoving past Emily and hitting the button for the ground floor, Jonny left her standing at the main desk on Darwin. Deciding that he needed coffee – and food – Jonny headed for the canteen, only to realise upon arriving at the till that he's wallet was still in his coat pocket which was in the locker room.

"It's alright; I'll get it," Jonny glanced over his shoulder as Mary-Claire ordered her own coffee fix and handed over a ten pound note.

"Thanks …" he muttered.

"Not at all … this way you gorgeous Scott owes me one." she gave him a cheeky wink and pocketed her change as Jonny picked up both coffees. "So … the whole not shaving thing; this is your sexy dad look I take it?"

Jonny frowned and ran a hand over his chin as he failed to remember if it had been yesterday or the day before since he'd last shaved. "Why? Is it working?" he asked outrageously.

"Oh _definitely_, Naylor won't be able to cope when she wakes up … how's she doing by the way? I might as well ask and then report back to Sacha and the rest of AAU."

Jonny shrugged, "I don't know … the twins are out and off being checked over by the midwives. We got chucked out as Jac's bp started dropping."

"Twins huh? What kinds, two little boys, a pair of girls?"

"One of each; a lad and a wee girly." He told her proudly, sipping his coffee.


	8. Chapter 8

Mary-Claire wasn't the only one to mention the fact that he looked rather _rugged_; he'd stepped outside to find several inches of snow covering the world and was told by Malick that he should keep the stubble since it suggested that there was a whole side to Jonny that people immediately wanted to know about.

"… A more exciting and dare-devil side."

"Are you hitting on me?"

Malick laughed, "Nah man … well, if you were gay then yeah, I would be; but no, I was just saying that it suits you."

Jonny drank that last of his coffee, "Jac will have a laughing fit when she finds out you were hitting on me!"

"You know your kids are really lucky, right? To have you and Jac as their parents … they're going to be a handful no doubt for everyone else but you two!"

Jonny grinned, "You're probably right!" he watched as Malick pulled his jacket tighter round his shoulders and adjusted his cap slightly.

"Well I'd best get off; apparently Jake needs some help on his coursework so there goes my night out!" he turned on his heel and nodded at Jonny, "this'll be you and Jac in fifteen years; unable to go out for the night because the twins need help with homework!"

"Urgh … don't!" Jonny shook his head, "anyway, that'll be Jac's job; she's the brains and I'm the brawn!"

Malick laughed and gave him a cheery wave goodbye and laughed again as Jonny slipped on an icy patch and almost fell flat on his back. Deciding he'd better get in to the warmth before he froze to death, Jonny headed over to the canteen again as Hanssen was ordering his coffee. It was strange seeing the Swede in the red scrubs of Keller, and even more so when he bought Jonny the sandwich he'd been eyeing up.

Muttering his thanks, and answering his questions about the twins' health Jonny guessed that Hanssen was just trying to be sociable – probably proving to Serena that he was capable of human interaction. Thanking him again, Jonny watched as Hanssen's bleeper started doing the Macarena and the surgeon hurried to the lift as he went to answer whatever crisis it was that needed him so urgently.

Opening the sandwich – he'd regrettably realised it would've been rude to start eating it during his conversation with Hanssen – Jonny took the main stairs up through the hospital, for some reason taking his time. Perhaps it was because he didn't want to arrive on Darwin and have to wait around for them to be finished with Jac or the twins …

"I hear you're a father now; congratulations!" Jonny almost dropped the sandwich as Chantelle, Digby, Gemma and Michael caught up with him on the stairs. Before he knew it, he was being hugged by the nurse and F1 rather tightly and both women placed kisses on his cheeks.

"Get in line ladies," Jonny told them, winking.

"Loving the beard Maconie," Gemma said, "aren't you Chantelle?" she nodded, and Jonny noticed Digby looking rather crestfallen at that fact.

"Ah yes, this is my – how did Mary-Claire put it? – ah yes, my 'sexy dad look' and I must say, it's working rather well." Jonny never could resist the urge to make sure his Maconie Charm still worked.

Michael also looked rather annoyed at the female attention Jonny was receiving from Gemma and Chantelle, especially when he played the sympathy card again in regards to the whole Emily debarkle. He and Digby stood exchanging dark looks at their invisibility until Jonny realised he was taking things a bit far with his flirting and took it down a peg or two. "So, Dr Wilde, were you missing the charm of the American so much that you left AAU in search of him?"

Michael winked in thanks as he quickly swooped in and took over the chatting up while Jonny decided to give Digby a little lesson in how to talk to women. Grabbing the socially awkward young doctor by his arm and dragged him onto Keller, away from the presence of the opposite gender. "You, my young friend, are never going to get anywhere if you don't know how to talk to women." Jonny told him bluntly, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich.

"I … erm, well … it's not that I – well it is … but I, women are … different to us and … well – I don't understand them." He admitted and Jonny laughed through his mouthful of food.

"What man does?"

"You do, and Mr Spence does, and Oliver Valentine does … even Mr Malick and he's gay."

Swallowing his mouthful, Jonny patted him on the shoulder. "The thing to remember is that all women like being the absolute centre of your attention. So when you talk to them, you just chat a load of shit, but make out that you're listening to every word they're saying."

"You just listen to them?" Digby repeated, pushing his glasses up his nose and folding his arms across his chest.

"Don't' do that! You'll get a wee bit bored if you do, trust me; no I said you have to _make out_ like you're listening – pretend."

"I don't get it," the F1 told him, obviously confused.

Jonny shook his head and sighed as Michael and Chantelle came onto the ward. An idea popping into his head, Jonny let an evil little grin spread across his face. "Ah, Nurse Lane; young Digby here was just telling me how absolutely marvellous you're looking today, and I must say, he was right."

"Were you?" she asked, turning to a stammering Digby.

"Oh yes …" Jonny told her seriously. "Actually, he was telling me off for flirting with you earlier … apparently I'm no good for ya." He pushed Digby forwards so he was standing a few feet away from Chantelle and joined Michael leaning against the nurses' station with Serena. The three of them smirked to each other as they watched Digby try to chat up Chantelle.

"Whatever you told him to do; it's working." Michael said as Jonny shoved the last mouthful of the sandwich into his gob.

"I think my work here is done," Jonny smirked as Chantelle and Digby moved their conversation to a somewhat more private spot. "Make sure he knows I expect some kind of thanks," he told Michael and the American nodded.

"How's Jac doing? And the twins?" so news that he and Jac had twins had already circulated the entire hospital had it?

Jonny shrugged, "the midwife took the twins away for the standard checks – and apparently they want Elliot to take a look at, um, the girl – they haven't even got names yet, bless them – because she was having difficulty breathing. And Jac …" Jonny ran a hand over his face, "I don't know. They pretty much threw me outta theatre when her bp went through the roof."

"Ah yes, that reminds me," Serena burst out suddenly as Michael patted Jonny on the shoulder consolingly. "Jac's out of theatre and is in HDU. All fine and dandy and with no lasting damage – Ms Effanga told me to tell you if I saw you since you're not answering your mobile."

"It's in my locker …" Jonny muttered. The amount of relief that flooded through him shocked him; since when had he been so worried? "And the twins?"

"The midwives will bring them to Darwin once they've been fully assessed and checked over." Serena told him smiling, "Now, I suggest you wipe the mayonnaise off your face and get yourself on up to Darwin; Jac'll need you when she wakes up."


	9. Chapter 9

She was fine. Well, not fine exactly, but she wasn't in any danger. That's what mattered. Jonny excused himself, ducked into the toilets to make sure he was presentable and then headed up the stairs to Darwin. He pictured the look on Jac's face when she found out that she'd been carrying twins, and grinned; he was almost tempted to film her reaction – just because it would be so hilarious. But knowing Jac, she'd probably steal his phone and break it if he did.

_Twins … _he was still finding it hard to digest that bit, even though he'd been there and seen them dragged unceremoniously into life. Jac, no doubt, would find it the height of hilarity when she found out their son had inherited Jonny's inability to stay still – that was after she had a go at Mo for dropping him of course. And something told him that Jac was going to surprise them all – and herself – at how well she'd rise to the challenge of motherhood. Not that he ever doubted her ability to be a mother … it was more he'd had to convince _her_ that she could do it.

Understandably, she'd been terrified she would hurt her baby – at that point there had just been the one – just as her own mother had hurt her. Jonny remembered how one quiet afternoon on the ward not long after that first scan he'd gone to; she'd told him about her mother. He'd sat there, wondering how anyone could have it in them to do that to their own child … and realising that her icy exterior had developed back when she'd been abandoned as a child. Jonny had promised her, in no uncertain terms, that she wouldn't turn into her mother.

_"You already love this baby more than anything Jac … you don't have it in you to put our child through anything like what you had to go through."_

_"Oh really? Or are you just saying that?"_

_"Jac … you're gonna be brilliant – you always are – and you'll surprise me every step of the way no doubt, just because you can." He cocked his head and looked at her, "do you want to hurt our baby?"_

_"How …? Why would you even ask that?" she looked up, stunned._

_"Because now you know you don't have it in you to abandon it," he took her hand in his and smiled. "When the baby comes, you'll wonder why we even had this conversation." She smiled back at him, grateful for his help._

_"I hope so."_

_"I know so," acting entirely on impulse he lent towards her and kissed her forehead and his face paled when Emily looked at him with flashing eyes._

_"Looks like you won't be getting any tonight," Jac whispered, amused, in his ear as she got to her feet, using him as a handrail to pull herself up. _

She'd trusted him enough that she hadn't brought it up since and Jonny suspected that he'd all but quitted her fears, although he knew nothing could banish them entirely until she came face to face with her baby – _babies Jonny; there's two –_ for the first time. He'd sometimes catch her staring into space, one hand resting on her stomach and a worried frown upon her face and he knew she was doubting herself again … so whenever he spotted her like that, Jonny used to go up and deliberately get her excited about the prospect; forcing her to see that the good far outweighed the bad.

That was another thing. As well as hiding all those fears and doubts, Jac had also – particularly in the early stages before he was involved – tried to hide how much she was looking forwards to being a mother. While she could effectively hide it from the likes of Hanssen, Serena, Michael, Ric and the others, she couldn't hide it from Sacha, Elliot, himself and even Mo and Ollie. Sacha was her bestfriend and as for the others, well they worked alongside her every day and overheard the many and countless snatched conversations she had with Jonny. It had been nice for the entire ward, to watch as Jac finally _relaxed_.

Over the past nine months, Jonny – and the rest of Darwin – had witnessed the slow steps that Jac took as she began to open up and _talk_ to people about things other than work. It had happened without any of them realising it, even Jac. Mo had finally realised what it was about Jac that meant Jonny couldn't stay away when they first met and it annoyed him slightly that the two of them had finally decided that they could be friends _after_ he and Jac had split up. But that was the way life worked.

She was smiling more too – and laughing. Oh how he loved to hear her laugh. It was infectious; when she smiled – genuine smiles that reached her eyes – or laughed, he found he would too. But it was when they weren't at work that Jac really let her excitement show; she'd tease him continually, and remarkably, let him respond in kind before he'd tell her off for over-doing things again. They'd talked for hours and hours at a time about the baby – back when it was still one – and how, if it were a boy, Jonny would take him to football matches and camping out in the wild up in Scotland. Or if it were a girl how Jac would take her to ballet or tap classes as well as horse riding lessons – Jac was adamant that she couldn't cope with a girly girl who'd cry if she got a bit muddy.

But they never discussed names, not really. Maybe because they both believed it was too good to be true. Jonny had gone to pick Jac up for work one morning and was waiting in her front room while she went for a final bathroom break and spotted a book of baby names on the coffee table. When he questioned her about it she'd just shrugged and said that she'd gotten bored after five minutes or so and he'd laughed before ushering her out of the door.

It still surprised him that he and Jac had known each other little more than eighteen months; yet it felt like forever – but forever in a good way. As if his life _before_ Jac was irrelevant and not important … as if he hadn't had a life before her. Standing to one side as about twenty student nurses – okay, four – thundered down the stairs desperate not to be the last one to the bar and therefore the one who paid, Jonny gingerly pushed open the double doors and walked back onto Darwin.

Mo, Elliot and Ollie were sitting at the nurses' station talking with Mr T and they didn't notice Jonny join them at first. It was only when Elliot turned to place a pile of notes down on the counter behind him that they realised Jonny was there. Elliot jumped out of his skin and dropped the files over the floor as the others wondered what the matter was. Jonny couldn't hide his grin – at least it wasn't _him_ who'd made a fool of himself this time. Muttering darkly about how Jonny had made him go into theatre with an empty stomach, Elliot pointed Jonny towards HDU.

Jac lay in the bed with her eyes shut and seemingly at peace. Taking the seat beside the bed Jonny found it somewhat strange seeing her without the enormous belly all of a sudden. Knowing Jac would be glad she could finally fit back into her designer labels again, Jonny took her hand in his, content to watch her sleep.

Maybe it was the touch of his hand or the fact that she sensed she wasn't alone, but Jac stirred a few moments later. She glanced down at Jonny's hand entwined in her own and then looked up at him. The last time she'd looked at him with that unguarded expression was the night she'd turned up outside his flat and begged him not to leave her alone; the night Tara had died. There was one thing and one thing only in her eyes – his granny always told him that the eyes were the heart's way of expressing its truth – and Jonny kicked himself for not seeing it because he felt it too. He'd never stopped feeling it … he had _always_ felt it; right from … from when? From day one – no, not day one, more like … well, he couldn't honestly say when because he didn't know when. It had just happened; one day she had become the absolute soul and centre of his world, and the funny thing was, Jonny couldn't care less.

"I love you," he blurted.


	10. Chapter 10

"Took you long enough," she muttered, trying – and failing miserably – to hide her glee at his words.

"Well …" he couldn't think of anything to say and so he resorted to shrugging, which got a smirk out of Jac.

"Speechless Maconie?" she teased.

"That's your own fault," he told her. "You just take my breath away." She raised an eyebrow and he hung his head, "too cheesy?"

"Way too cheesy," she agreed and Jonny grinned before leaning closer so she could kiss him. It was small – almost not even worthy of being _called_ a kiss – but it meant a whole lot more; it meant forever. "Am I not even worth you shaving?" she asked as he pulled away and Jonny lifted his free hand to his chin again, "actually, on second thoughts, I could get used to it."

"Oh really," he questioned, "Could you now?"

"Don't keep your brain in your pants Jonny; I don't want anyone else thinking they stand a chance with you, okay? We do this thing properly now, you and me – no hiding or pretending … I – I don't want to lose you again." She looked back down at their hands.

"They have nothing on you Jac …" she smiled again.

"So … what exactly happened? Judging by the fact that my stomach doesn't seem to be trying to suffocate me I'm guessing they had to –" she waved her hands vaguely but Jonny understood what she meant.

"Oh that. Well," he paused wondering how to tell her. "Emily pushed you down the stairs, you remember that bit, right?" she nodded, "and then you er, you – well you started bleeding from … well," he cleared his throat uncomfortably and Jac muttered about stating the obvious. "And I called for help – you fainted just as Mo and Elliot got to us and they rushed you into theatre."

"And then what? You stood round like a lemon until they brought me out again?"

"No, I erm … I couldn't stand not knowing so I went to walk into theatre, but Mo came to get me to say that they wanted me there – because you were going to miss it." A small smile flickered across Jac's face and Jonny knew what she was thinking. "You're a wee bit sorry you didn't get to watch me freak out in there, aren't you?"

"Nope," she lied and Jonny kissed her again, wiping the smirk off her lips. "Alright, maybe a little bit."

"Just a wee bit or more than that?" Jonny teased and Jac rolled her eyes.

"Shut up you idiot and tell me what happened!" his deliberate efforts of dragging it out were testing her patience and Jonny found it rather funny. "Please," she added softly.

"Well they had to remove your uterus because you had several bleeds from there so …" Jac closed her eyes at this bit of news and Jonny could only imagine what she felt like knowing that more children was never going to happen. Murmuring at her to shift along, Jonny perched on the side of the bed next to her and wrapped an arm round her shoulders. Jac leant into him, and they stayed like that for a while as Jac struggled to accept what had happened.

"And … the baby?" she asked finally. "Where's our baby … Jonny – nothing went wrong did it? Please tell me nothing went wrong!"

"Ssshh," he kissed her forehead and wrapped her tighter in his arms, "Nothing went wrong – we've got, um … we've got twins."

She pushed herself out of his arms and stared at him with something like shock on her face. "Erm … what do you mean … _twins?"_ Jonny chuckled.

"I mean, my Jac, that we have a wee lad and a wee lass; I should know I was there when Mr T quite literally dragged them feet first out of you." she just sat there, blinking.

"What … I mean, how …? I don't understand – but the scans never … this, but …" Jac was in a daze as Jonny, resisting the urge to tease her about her speechlessness, pulled her back into his arms. _"Twins?" _she asked again. "That's two babies …"

"Well done, you can count!" Jac threw him a glare; now wasn't the time to crack jokes, didn't he see that she was close to freaking out? "Sorry … I've already done the freaking out bit. Please, feel free to continue."

She lay there in his arms as he stroked her hair, grinning whenever he heard her muttering the word, _"Twins?"_

"This is where you belong," he told Jac, cutting across her sixteenth round of 'but … _twins?_' She glanced up at him, and frowned slightly. "With me, here … in my arms." He explained and she nodded, closing her eyes she seemed content where she was; in his arms. Jonny leant back on the bed and closed his eyes as he too, found that he was content – for now.

"What are they like?" Jac asked some time later, not moving her head from his chest.

Jonny grinned and held her tighter. "I was shit scared I'd drop them." He admitted, "Mo kinda did with our son, he was –"

"She did what?" Jac sat up – too fast as a hand flew to the fresh scar that had yet to heal and she let out a hiss of pain – and glared at Jonny as if it was his fault.

He laughed at her reaction, "he's fine! He just was wriggling a wee bit more than we expected, that's all. He didn't fall far, and the nurse said he was alright – just got a set of lungs on him, that's all." Jonny grinned at her as she struggled to accept that her baby was fine after being dropped, moments after he'd been born.

"And he's … you promise he's okay?" Jonny nodded and she settled back down into his arms. "What about our, erm … about our daughter?" Jonny sighed and rolled onto his side so he was facing her and whispered about how they wanted Elliot to take a look at her because she was having a few problems breathing. They lay together on Jac's bed in silence for a while longer and Jonny wished he knew what she was worrying about now.

"Can you … I mean – would you, erm … go and see – the twins; I'd, erm … can you find out where they are?"


	11. Chapter 11

"How's Jac?" Elliot asked as Jonny made his way over to the nurses' station after carefully closing the door of HDU behind him.

"Awake," was his reply.

"You didn't wake her up did you?" Ollie demanded, "Because she needs rest!"

"No! I went in there, and sat down in the chair and she woke up."

"And?" Mo asked, knowing full well that there was an 'and'.

Jonny sighed. "And I told her I love her."

Mo, Elliot, and Ollie didn't seem surprised by _what_ he said, it more that he'd said it. "And what did she say?" Elliot asked finally.

Jonny shrugged, "she said … that it took me long enough; to say it …"

"Well it has. You've know her – what? – eighteen months? And you've been in love with her for about … twelve of those." Mo told him as she looked up something on the computer in front of her. "What? You have!"

"If you say so," Jonny muttered. "Anyway; Jac wants to know when she can see the twins – and so would I actually."

"I'll give Midwifery a call," Elliot told Jonny, "and see what's taking them so long." Jonny nodded in thanks.

"I'll go check up on Jac then," Mo sighed and then grabbed an impressively thick file with the name 'Jacqueline Paula Burrows' scribbled out and replaced with 'Jacqueline Naylor' in handwriting Jonny recognised from the wedding invitation Jac had got from her ex-boyfriend. Someone had also scribbled out the 'queline' so that it now just read, 'Jac Naylor'.

"Oh Mo; I'd best warn you … she knows you dropped our son!"

"I didn't drop him! He just … _fell_ …" but when she saw that Jonny was laughing at her she hit him with the file and he feigned injury as she entered HDU, shutting the door and then pulling the curtains shut so that Jonny got the message that he had to find something to occupy his time until Mo had finished.

"Right … yes, no I understand perfectly … of course … I see, and have you tried –? Oh you have … well; in that case … yes I'll be there just as soon as I can." Elliot hung up the phone and was met with a rather concerned Jonny. "Oliver, can you let Mo know that I'm popping over to Peads?" he nodded as Elliot gathered together a pile of notes and then handed them to the junior doctor, "and can you keep an eye on these for me please?"

"Okay, but …" Elliot had already dashed off to the lift without answering Jonny's panic stricken looks or giving Ollie a chance to finish his sentence. Giving Jonny a consoling pat on the shoulder, Ollie got up and checked up on the ward while Mo still hadn't emerged from HDU. Standing alone, Jonny felt that they were deliberately keeping him in the dark on purpose. Frustrated, he figured that he needed fresh air and so, making sure he grabbed his wallet this time, Jonny popped his head round the curtain and asked his bestfriend and girlfriend – he was allowed to call Jac his girlfriend again now, wasn't he? – if they wanted anything from the canteen before following a bunch of surly consultants into the lift.

When he reached the ground floor, he went straight outside to find that the sky was black and that the odd star was winking at him as more flakes of snow drifted lazily down from the heavens. Shivering, Jonny actually welcomed the cold as it gave him something to focus on other than why did Elliot have to rush off to Peads like that. Was it his daughter – as yet still without a name – who was in desperate need of a cardiac consultant? He couldn't help but remember just how hard she had found it to breathe … nor could he forget that it had taken such a terribly long time for her to actually _take _that first breath …

He didn't know how long he sat out there on the picnic bench – and he had no idea that it was the same bench Jac had slumped down on after he'd walked away when she'd told him about sleeping with Sean. Secretly he was pleased that she hadn't lied to him about it; that she'd made sure it had been her to tell him … he wasn't sure he could've done that. Burying his face in his hands, Jonny let out a sigh worthy of a man who had the weight of the entire world upon his shoulders.

She would be fine. Of course she would be; she was Jac Naylor's daughter. Cut from the same cloth as the Ice Queen herself – able to survive motorbike accidents and radiation contamination and multiple heartbreaks. She was a Maconie; able to brush off all kinds of crap as if it didn't mean a thing and get back up fighting ten times as hard whenever life threw her to the floor …

Shivering, Jonny looked up as the snow started to turn to rain. _Typical, _he thought. Foolishly he made no move to run for cover as great icy droplets soaked him within minutes. It was only when he figured that Jac wouldn't cope with two new born babies – one with sever cardiac troubles – _and _ a boyfriend suffering from hyperthermia as well as recovering from major surgery that Jonny jumped off the bench and headed back inside. Grabbing a rather large armful of food supplies from the canteen, and ignoring the fact he was leaving great puddles of water everywhere, Jonny headed into the lift.

At the door to HDU, Jonny paused at the sound of Elliot's voice. "… his face, Jac … when he was handed the baby … I wish you could've seen it; the wonder there it was …"

"You already said," Jac whispered softly, "you've already said Elliot … and thank you."

"What for?" the professor asked, and Jonny was also keen to find out what Jac was thanking Elliot for.

"Everything … for not giving up on me and for believing that I – that I could always do better …"

Not sure Elliot could hear it, Jonny quickly backed into the room so that he would be there in time to catch her tears. Dumping the food onto the chair, he sat on the edge of her bed and took her into his arms. She pushed him away at once.

"You're all wet!" apologising while Elliot chuckled, Jonny pulled off his shirt and then reclaimed his perch next to Jac. This time she didn't push him away, "you're freezing," she murmured; they all knew that she was only stating the obvious to avoid embarrassing herself and Elliot further. However the midwife chose that moment to wheel in the twins.

Getting to his feet and carefully picking up his son, Jonny turned and handed him to a rather misty-eyed Jac before lifting his daughter and sliding back onto the bed beside her. Carefully Jonny gave her over too and then wrapped his arms around Jac as she looked upon her children for the first time. She said nothing – probably because words weren't enough – but there was a smile upon her lips and tears falling from her eyes.

"Glad you chose me over the pub the night Tara died?" Jonny asked as Elliot crept towards the door.

"I didn't choose you," Jac murmured. "My heart did."


	12. Chapter 12

Jonny smiled and kissed her on the top of her head as the midwife rattled on to Jac about the weight, length and general health of the twins. And then came the question Jac and Jonny were nowhere near prepared for; "So, do we have names?" Jac shook her head, her attention fixed upon the twins while Jonny muttered about how they'd never got round to that conversation. She smiled, "Of course … we'll use the surname and leave it at that for now," she waited expectantly while Jac and Jonny shared a glance.

"We haven't even worked out that bit yet either," Jac admitted softly, still with her focus entirely upon her children. Jonny grinned as his son still seemed insistent on wriggling for all he was worth, to the point where he accidently reached out and hit his sister. "Please don't start with the fighting just yet," Jac asked as she lifted their daughter up into her arms – Jac had quickly discovered that holding twins was a knack she was yet to master and so had placed them on the bed before her, side by side.

"Can you give us a moment?" Jonny asked the midwife and she nodded, leaving the new family alone as she exited the room with Elliot. "So; names."

"Names," Jac agreed as she leant into Jonny. Her exhaustion worried him for a second, before he remembered that she'd had quite an eventful day.

"All we have to do right now is settle on whose surname they get," Jonny told her gently as he lifted up his son and cradled him against him. Jac watched him with an odd look on her face before kissing him softly and nodding in agreement as she rested her head against his chest once again. "So, are they going to be the Naylor twins or the Maconie twins? Or are we going to be mean and give them both surnames together?"

"Naylor-Maconie?" Jac questioned, "I'm not that evil and I never thought you would be." Jonny laughed and almost fell off the bed, causing Jac to first glare at him since he held their son in his arms, and then smirk.

"Alright then; whose will they have?" Jonny asked her, relocating to the end of the bed where there was more room. He then lay across the foot of Jac's bed and placed the baby boy next to him, smiling wondrously as he reached out and curled his fist around Jonny's little finger. Looking up to see that unguarded expression on Jac's face again, Jonny watched as their daughter waved her little fist and touched Jac's cheek. He saw her heart melt as she gazed down into her little girl's eyes and nothing could've made these moments more perfect.

"Bad things always seem to happen to Naylors so …" Jonny knew she was using the baby in her arms as an excuse not to look up at and see his reaction, "we can give them your name – unless you don't want that."

"If you're sure," Jonny had to ask, because he didn't want her to be smug about how pleased he was about _his_ children having _his_ name … give it time and he'd have Jac ditching Naylor in favour for Maconie. "I mean, only if you're okay with it."

"Would I have said it if I wasn't okay with it?" Jac rolled her eyes before initiating a swap – handing him their daughter and picking up their son in return. Jonny noticed that the baby girl's breathing seemed a lot steadier and less painful, which he took as a good sign. "But if you're not okay with it then I suppose we could make pick a surname at random and give that to the twins."

"Okay … they can be little Maconies."

"Don't try and sound as if you're not pleased about _my_ choice."

"Would I ever?" Jac decided not to respond and Jonny figured that it was best to drop it – whatever her real reasons for wanting them to have his name, he'd find them out eventually.

"And now you're going to try and convince me that 'Jonathon' is an acceptable name for our son."

_How did she …_ Jonny blinked, "well … it's family tradition Jac," he began lamely, getting a roll of the eyes from her as she slumped back against the pillows. "Okay; I'll make you a deal, we call him Jonathon _but_ you get to choose whatever name you want as his middle name and we'll call him that … so long as the Jonathon bit comes first." Sensing that she was slowly starting to warm to the idea, Jonny continued, "_and_ I will only insist on giving our daughter my mum's name as a middle name …" he watched her as she figured out who got the better deal.

"Fine … but you'll owe me dinner!"

"Just dinner, there's nothing else you want me to owe you?" Jonny asked, winking at her as he pushed himself to his feet and raided his food supply and chucked his shirt over the radiator to dry.

"Subtle Jonny – _really _subtle … but yeah, you owe me all that too." Jonny chuckled and tripped up over the baby bed just as the midwife re-entered the room. Obviously wondering why Jonny was lying on his back on the floor, she asked Jac – Jac was the sensible mother while he was the foolish and immature father – if they'd worked out a surname, which she scribbled down on her clip board and then suggested rather firmly as Jonny staggered to his feet that he left the room while she talked to Jac about breast feeding and other stuff he really didn't need to know about.

Taking the hint, Jonny left the room to return half an hour later to find the twins fast asleep and cuddled up to each other in the baby bed and Jac complaining to Mo about not being allowed to do anything much until the fresh scar had started to heal properly. "Were you wondering around the hospital shirtless?" Mo asked as Jonny slipped into HDU and made sure the door didn't slam behind him. Shrugging Jonny offered his friend a packet of crisps, which he knew full well she'd take. Snatching them from him, Mo left them alone.

"So, figured out what our wee children are gonna be called?" he asked and she shrugged, patting the bed beside her. Doing as he was told, Jac rested her head against his chest again and listened – or so Jonny assumed – to his heartbeat.

"What's your mother's name?" she whispered after a moment.

"Rose," he answered just as softly.

"How does Louise Alice Rose Maconie sound?"

Jonny glanced down at her, "Sounds good," smiling; he waited for her to continue.

"And I thought … Jonathon Isaac Elliot Maconie."


	13. Chapter 13

"As in …?"

"As in the mad professor that leaves donut wrappers all over my desk; yes him … problem?"

Jonny shook his head, "not at all … so we have Louise and …?"

"Isaac."

"Isaac and Louise Maconie," Jonny tried the names and glanced at the twins, Louise was snuggled up close to her big brother and Isaac was taking up most of the space, stretched out just as Jonny apparently did in his sleep. "So, what did the midwife say?" he asked, turning back to Jac. But Jac was asleep, her head resting on his chest and the sound of her breathing mingled with that of the twins.

Smiling Jonny kissed her on the cheek before carefully sliding off the bed, pulling the blankets up over Jac and brushing her hair out of her face. Grabbing a spare blanket, he reassigned the pile of food to the floor and settled down in the chair, wrapping himself in the blanket and closing his eye, wondering how long it would be before the twins started screaming for food or clean nappies or attention.

He felt as if he'd only just sat down when a wailing cry, immediately followed by a second one since Isaac had woken his sister, tore him from his slumber. Groaning, he stood up and pulled the cot with the twins towards him as he realised Jac wasn't in the bed. He glanced round the room, "Jac?" he called out, hoping she was just in the bathroom that joined the room.

There was no answer besides the twins. When a rather horrid smell hit his nose, Jonny very quickly figured out what the problem was. First lifting Isaac out of the cot and placing him in the middle of the empty bed, and then doing the same with Louise, he located the stack of nappies that the midwife had brought in with the twins, along with wet-wipes and a changing mat and placed them all on the bed in front of him.

Jonny glanced up hopefully when the door opened and in strode Elliot, probably come to see why the twins were still crying. "Where's Jac?"

"She's just being checked over; nothing sinister … I suggest you get on with dealing with that smell before they wake up the entire ward."

"What do I do?" Jonny looked up at the professor to see a very amused grin lurking on his face. "Please Elliot …"

Taking pity on him, Elliot told Jonny what to do. Making sure that the changing mat was laid out flat, Jonny lifted Isaac and placed him on it, undoing the baby grow that the hospital had provided and exposed the rather heavy nappy. Taking a last, deep breath of clean air – and getting a laugh out of the old man watching him – Jonny attacked the source of the smell and the cries. He nearly gaged as he shoved the dirty nappy and the wipes into the sack Elliot held out for him and got another smirk out of the old man.

Nodding at Elliot's suggestion of letting Isaac lie on the bed nappy-less while he attacked Louise's Jonny couldn't help feel as though the CT consultant was judging him on how well he did – as if he was making sure that Jonny could handle being a father and if he needed to intervene on Jac's behalf. He half wondered if it was because Elliot looked at Jac like a daughter and felt that he owed it to her to make sure Jonny made no mistakes.

Able to remove and dispose of the dirty nappy with much less guidance this time, Jonny was also told that there was a different method to wiping a girl's bottom than a boy's … deciding that now wasn't the time to question it, Jonny did as he was told and dumped the two nappies into the bin with a huge sigh of relief. He tripped over the baby bed and landed on the floor rather painfully just as the door opened.

"You idiot!" so Jac was back then. Getting stiffly to his feet, Jonny peered over the edge of the bed as Jac slid back onto it, careful not to disturb the now silent twins. They were awake, their eyes open and studying their surroundings with awe and taking everything in.

"I was just giving Jonny a lesson in nappy changing," Elliot informed Jac and Mo, "however the lesson isn't quite over yet … he's yet to put the fresh nappies on."

Jonny groaned and Jac smirked, throwing him a clean nappy as she took one herself and gently pulled Isaac towards her. He watched, amazed, as she placed the nappy onto the squirming boy with little trouble first time. Determined not to have to ask for help with what to do this time, Jonny lifted Louise up and placed her down in front of him.

He got stuck when it came to figuring out which way round the nappy went. Laughing at him lightly, Jac stole Louise off him and in a matter of moments, had the nappy firmly in place. She kissed him though, still smiling, and thanked him for getting as far as he had without her. Jonny was determined not to look at Mo or Elliot or the midwife – he knew they'd be smirking at him – he took his place at the foot of the bed while Jac sat and watched the twins as they fidgeted on the bed between their parents.

The door opened and closed and Jonny glanced up to see that the midwife had left, _well I didn't need her doubting me anyway_ he thought as Mo leant perched on the edge of the bed and Elliot took the seat.

"So, what are they called then? Beside the Maconie Twins?" Mo asked, although like Jac her attention was focused entirely upon the two babies. There was something about babies and women that meant getting a fixed and interested answer out of them was virtually impossible. Louise chose that moment to reach out and touch Jac's hand so Jonny decided to answer, although he figured Mo was only half listening as she stroked Isaac's cheek.

"Isaac and Louise," Jonny said holding out his hand so that his son's waving fist would give him a high-five.

"Didn't win on calling him junior then Jonny Mac?" Mo teased.

"Actually, I did," he smirked, "but he's gonna be Jonathon when it's something important and Isaac all the other times."

"Jonathon Isaac Maconie," Elliot said, trying it out.

"Jonathon Isaac _Elliot _Maconie," Jac corrected softly, smiling at the man who had never given up on her. Elliot seemed shocked at first, but then he broke into a smile and got to his feet, pulling Jac into a hug before she could protest. "Yeah, yeah … glad you're okay with it …"

"And Louise," Mo asked tactfully giving Elliot time to wipe his eyes and Jac time to hide how pleased she was at the old man's reaction.

"Louse Alice Rose Maconie," Jonny answered, stroking the little girl's pale cheek. The little hair she had was just as red as her mothers, while Isaac's was dark like Jonny's and both had their mother's eyes and their father's curly hair.

Mo and Elliot left them a moment later – the sound of a bp machine going haywire reminding them that they were still working. Jonny watched the door shut and looked at his little family … nothing could make it any more perfect. Jac smiled at him, "Look at what we did," she whispered.

"Yeah," he took her hand in his, "they're perfect … me granny once told me that, um – that the best kind of relationships begin unexpectedly. When you get the – um, the astonished feeling and everything happens so suddenly … she said that; that's why you don't go looking for love and that it comes to you just at the right time; the time you never thought it would." Jonny didn't know why he was telling Jac that, but he continued onwards without knowing what it was he wanted to say. "I never thought – or expected – that you'd mean so much to me … and I'm glad you went along with my wee plan when we first met otherwise …" he shrugged.

"You were in the right place, at the right time," she whispered. "And I can't thank you enough for irritating me into falling for you."

"Any time," Jonny grinned; "now all I need to do is irritate you into marrying me."

She raised an eyebrow at him before speaking in a whisper, "it doesn't matter when, or where, or how … only that you will."

"It matters to me," Jonny told her, getting to his feet and stretching.

"Jonny …"

"Yes?"

"I love you," Jonny fell over the food littered across the floor and reached out for something to steady himself and pulled the baby bed and the chair over in the process – his shout and the crash woke the twins and also gave him a rather splendid bruise on the back of his shoulder. "Still love you, you idiot."


End file.
